Upgrading the Windows Media server

07/02/2012

10 minutes to read

In this article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

If you decide to upgrade your Windows Media server operating system to Windows Server 2008 R2, you must choose to either upgrade the existing operating system or install a new copy of Windows on the computer.

Upgrading the operating system retains your files, settings, and programs and automatically configures many of your Windows Media Services settings in the new environment. You may still have to configure some settings manually, and you may have to enable features that were not available in the version of Windows Media Services on your previous operating system. Upgrading the operating system is usually faster than installing a new copy. The main drawback of an upgrade is that you might encounter some compatibility problems. These problems might include legacy hardware that is not supported by the new operating system or for which new drivers are not yet available.

Installing a new copy of Windows removes all the files, settings, and programs on the computer. Therefore, you must back up the Windows Media server, including configuration settings, digital media content, log files, third-party plug-ins or applications used by Windows Media Services, and so on, so that you can restore them after you install Windows Media Services on the new operating system. A full installation enables you to remove all data fragments and unused files that might reside on the computer, and you will know for sure that all settings will be configured exactly as you need them to be after installation is completed. A full installation takes longer but usually results in less troubleshooting at the end of the process.

This section contains the following procedures that show you how to upgrade a Windows Media server that is running on the Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate (RC) operating systems to a full installation that will run on the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. It does not describe how to upgrade your Windows Media server to run on a Server Core installation of the operating system.

Custom authentication credentials (user name and password) for the following Windows Media Services plug-ins and properties are not retained when you copy your current Windows Media Services configuration to a new copy of Windows:

The custom credential values revert to default values in the Windows Media Services configuration on the updated operating system. If you specified custom authentication credentials for one or more of these plug-ins and properties, we recommend that you upgrade the operating system instead. If you decide to install a new copy of Windows, you must manually re-enter the custom credential values for the plug-ins and properties.

Note

To complete these procedures, you must be logged on as an administrator or be a member of the Administrators group.

Note

Cross-architecture upgrades (for example, from x86-based to x64-based operating systems) are not supported. If you are running a 32-bit version of the Windows Server 2003 operating system, which is an x86-based architecture, you cannot upgrade the operating system to Windows Server 2008 R2, which is x64-based. For more information about how to upgrade the operating system to 32-bit editions of the Windows Server 2008 operating system instead, see How to install Windows Media Services in Windows Server 2008.

Note

Upgrading the Windows Media server operating system from either Windows NT Server 4.0 or Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2008 R2 is not supported. If you are running Windows Media Services 4.1 on one of these operating systems, you must update the Windows Media server operating system to Windows Server 2003 first, and then update the operating system again to Windows Server 2008 R2. If you do this, make sure that you review the Windows Server 2008 R2 System Requirements because your existing hardware may not be sufficient to run the new operating system. For more information, see Information about Upgrading Windows Media Services 4.1 to Windows Media Services 9 Series.

Review the Windows Server 2008 R2 System Requirements to ensure that your existing hardware can run the new operating system. If your computer has less than the "minimum" requirements, you will not be able to install Windows Server 2008 R2 correctly.

If you have not specified custom authentication credentials (user name and password) for the WMS Network Data Source plug-in, the WMS Anonymous User Authentication plug-in, or the Specify distribution credentials property, skip to step 7.

Stop Windows Media Services. To do this, follow these steps:

Open an elevated Command Prompt (click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator).

Type the following at the command prompt: net stop wmserver

Export registry settings for Windows Media Services to a registry hive file. To do this, follow these steps:

Open Registry Editor (click Start, click Run, and then in the Run dialog box, type regedit).

In the registry, navigate to the following key: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media

On the File menu, click Export.

In the Export Registry File dialog box, in Save in, specify a safe location for the saved registry hive file so that you can retrieve it later.

In File name, enter a name for the registry hive file.

In Save as type, select Registry Hive Files (*.*).

In Export range, select Selected branch.

Click Save.

The following figure shows the Export Registry File dialog box configured to export registry settings for Windows Media Services to a registry hive file on the desktop.

Windows Media Services log files are not saved during an in-place upgrade. If you must preserve these files, copy them to a safe location so that you can restore them on the updated operating system. The default location for log files on a Windows Media server is %windir%\System32\LogFiles\WMS.

Run the Windows Server 2008 R2 installation wizard, and when you are asked to select the operating system to install, select the Full Installation option.

When you are asked to choose the type of installation, click Upgrade. This option will upgrade your operating system to the new version and keep your files, settings, and programs.

If you have not specified custom authentication credentials (user name and password) for the WMS Network Data Source plug-in, the WMS Anonymous User Authentication plug-in, or the Specify distribution credentials property, skip to step 12.

After the operating system is upgraded, create a Windows Media registry key. To do this, follow these steps:

Open an elevated Command Prompt (click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator).

Type the following at the command prompt: reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media"

Import the registry settings for Windows Media Services from the registry hive file that you created in step 5. To do this, follow these steps:

Open Registry Editor (click Start, click Run, and then in the Run dialog box, type regedit).

In the registry, select the key that you created in step 10: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media

On the File menu, click Import.

In the Import Registry File dialog box, in the box that displays the type of registry files to import, select Registry Hive Files (*.*).

Find the registry hive file that you created in step 5, select it, and then click Open.

The following figure shows the Import Registry File dialog box configured to import registry settings for Windows Media Services from a registry hive file on the desktop.

Review the Windows Server 2008 R2 System Requirements to ensure that your existing hardware can run the new operating system. If your computer has less than the "minimum" requirements, you will not be able to install Windows Server 2008 R2 correctly.

Stop Windows Media Services. To do this, follow these steps:

Open an elevated Command Prompt (click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator).

Type the following at the command prompt: net stop wmserver

Back up the existing Windows Media Services configuration and media files (and optionally log files) so that you can restore them on the updated operating system.

The following table lists the files that you should copy together with their descriptions and their default locations on the Windows Media server.

Export registry settings for Windows Media Services to a registry hive file. To do this, follow these steps:

Open Registry Editor (click Start, click Run, and then in the Run dialog box, type regedit).

In the registry, navigate to the following key: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media

On the File menu, click Export.

In the Export Registry File dialog box, in Save in, specify a safe location for the saved registry hive file so that you can retrieve it later.

In File name, enter a name for the registry hive file.

In Save as type, select Registry Hive Files (*.*).

In Export range, select Selected branch.

Click Save.

The following figure shows the Export Registry File dialog box configured to export registry settings for Windows Media Services to a registry hive file on the desktop.

Run the Windows Server 2008 R2 installation wizard, and when you are asked to select the operating system to install, select the Full Installation option.

When you are asked to choose the type of installation, click Custom. This option will install a new copy of Windows and does not keep your files, settings, and programs.

After the operating system is installed, create a Windows Media registry key. To do this, follow these steps:

Open an elevated Command Prompt (click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator).

Type the following at the command prompt: reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media"

Import the registry settings for Windows Media Services from the registry hive file that you created in step 5. To do this, follow these steps:

Open Registry Editor (click Start, click Run, and then in the Run dialog box, type regedit).

In the registry, select the key that you created in step 8: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media

On the File menu, click Import.

In the Import Registry File dialog box, in the box that displays the type of registry files to import, select Registry Hive Files (*.*).

Find the registry hive file that you created in step 5, select it, and then click Open.

The following figure shows the Import Registry File dialog box configured to import registry settings for Windows Media Services from a registry hive file on the desktop.

In the Confirm Restore Key dialog box, click Yes.

Restore the Windows Media Services files that you backed up in step 4. If necessary, use the Distributed File System (DFS) and File Replication service to copy content from backup media to the updated server.